simply_surprise

I'm reading a copy of Che's Bolivian Diary printed by Pathfinder. It's got a lot of really great supplemental information in it.

I have fond memories of reading them when I was younger, but as I think about introducing them to kids I have some thoughts and issues:

• The clear colonial bias - Narnia needing white British rulers to thrive.
• Colorism/Xenophobia/Racism in the Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle.

Do the benefits of a neat magical fantasy world outweigh the issues? How would you approach it?

I recently finished the Epic of Gilgamesh, and I'm starting a collection of poems by Rumi.

I've previously read Cold Mountain by Han Shan.

Are there any other ancient poets/poems with published work that you'd recommend?

I'm looking for things that are:

• Basically as old as possible
• Poetic/mystic
• Not Christian (or Western, Greek, or Roman).

Thanks!

It was a really good read. The main character is a such a breathtakingly massive hater.

"For us who are determined to break the back of colonialism, our historic mission is to authorize every revolt, every desperate act, and every attack aborted or drowned in blood."

I just finished it today. It was very interesting to read of the lives and traditions of the Ibo people, and it was very sad to see them begin to be destroyed by the colonial machine.

"He of whom they have never stopped saying that the only language he understands is that of force, decides to give utterance by force. In fact, as always, the settler has shown him the way he should take if he is to become free. The argument the native chooses has been furnished by the settler, and by an ironic turning of the tables it is the native who now affirms that the colonialist understands nothing but force."